Being Effective

Q: What’s the biggest digital marketing mistake made by new business owners?

A: That the promoted content (regardless of whether on a website, through social media, or via email) is about the business and not the customer.

This may at first appear to be counter-intuitive, after all, you’re trying to sell your products and services. That’s your business, right?

Well, yes. And, no.

The difference where digital marketing is concerned, is that you are trying to build an ongoing relationship with the prospect without the face-to-face, or voice-to-voice contact you can use in more traditional marketing techniques.

No amount of shouting, “Buy my stuff!” will persuade a customer to make a purchase if they don’t feel they are being listened to, understood, and their needs are being met.

As a customer, and with so many businesses competing for attention, why would you support one that doesn’t demonstrate they understand your needs, are interested in you, can solve your problems? As opposed to a business that just wants to talk about themselves.

Tip: Find out what your customers actually need, not what you think they need, then speak to that in all the content you put on your digital platforms.

The key to an effective digital marketing strategy is to ensure that certain broad concepts are adhered to for all three cornerstone platforms.

None of these concepts are overtly “salesy” or scream “buy my stuff”! All of them are about building and maintaining good customer relationships. They are:

Establishing KLT factors (Know, Like and Trust).

Providing value through being useful.

Being human.

Using story telling techniques.

We’ll look at each of these concepts separately in the oncoming lessons.